Days 548-554! Sorry for a late post! But this week is full of fun! My parents and I took a drive to Lansing, Michigan to spend time with my cousin. And then on the back half of the week, I got to spend time with some high school friends, work out, and on a couple nights, play volleyball and pickleball! I also got lots of response to my music this week too, which was great to see!

Thursday, July 3rd kicks off this blog post and my parents and I woke up bright and early to set out on the road again.

To celebrate the 4th of July weekend, we were headed up to Lansing, Michigan to spend time with my cousin Mina (who visited me while I was in Thailand). It was a nice drive up and we stopped a few times along the way. One of which was Michigan City, Indiana for a great, big breakfast at a diner called the Michigan City Sugar Bowl. We also stopped by the Washington Park Beach which is on Lake Michigan.

It was a really hot day, which thwarted our plans of walking up and down the beach. So we continued our drive up to Lansing.

We arrived at Mina’s house, met her boyfriend James, and met her boyfriend’s daughter Summer! We sat in the shade outside for a couple hours, chatting, getting to know James and Summer, and catching up with Mina. It was really nice to see her and finally meet her significant other!

After that, we played some card games for a couple hours. Before we called it a night, James had a plethora of fireworks so we set off a few in their backyard.

Happy 4th of July! It’s Friday, July 4th! We started our day by going to a nearby park for a relaxing morning. A quick walk from Mina’s place was Hawk Island County Park, a nice and developed park with a small lake (or a big pond) that was meant for swimming.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and the water was the perfect temperature for hanging out in the heat of the day.

Thankfully, we snagged one of the last shaded spots so we could hang out outside of the water too! The park was busy, but not as crazy as we thought it would be on a holiday weekend.

We stayed at the park for a number of hours, walked the entire perimeter of the lake, and had a great time chatting and hanging out.

When we got home, my mom, Mina, and I played the card game Shithead! It’d been awhile since I had played, but it’s always fun playing the card game I learned while traveling.

Summer and my dad joined in the card playing as well and we played a few other games before heading out for the evening.

We made our way to Lansing Shuffle, which unfortunately wasn’t a dance studio, but was an upscale food court. I’m always a fan of these places since there’s a lovely atmosphere and you can choose whatever you want to eat from a number of different restaurants.

Now, I know I said it wasn’t a dance studio… but there actually was a line dancing class going on. So of course, Mina and I joined in.

We ate dinner and then got ready for a night of fireworks.

Saturday, July 5th started out with more game playing at the house. It was a slow start to the day but eventually we made our way to James’s friend’s house for a river float.

James’s friend Chad had a whole slew of kayaks and we took them down the Grand River. Now, there weren’t enough kayaks for everyone… so we tied a tube to the back of my kayak and I tugged my parents along the river (when the water wasn’t flowing fast enough).

It was a peaceful and fun few hours. The sun wasn’t too hot, the shade from the trees was nice, and we were surrounded by good company.

After rafting, we went straight to another one of their friend’s houses for, probably, the largest firework show I’ve ever seen.

The show lasted for 30 minutes and had multiple points that could’ve been the finale. The second to last big hurrah had so many fireworks going off at once, my brain had no idea what was going on. It still was a nice time and we met some friendly people.

Also on Saturday, Landlocked Beach Bum broke 100 monthly listeners on Spotify!

Sunday, July 6th we woke up early and said our see you later to Mina! It was a really nice weekend with her and her friends.

We drove back to Peoria and I took a leg of the driving. The drive was fine and without a hitch. Right when we got home, my friend Josh drove up and picked me up!

We made our way to Morton to hang out with a couple of our high school friends.

I had seen Josh since coming back to the US, but I hadn’t seen my friends Dylan and Ben yet! We spent a bit hanging at Dylan’s new house, catching up on the past couple years. We then took the conversation to a Mexican restaurant called Tequilas.

It was wonderful hanging and catching up with some good friends. It made me really happy I was able to catch Josh again and I was finally able to see Dylan and Ben!

After dinner, Josh and I headed over to another one of our friend’s houses, our friend Newt!

We sat on his back patio for a few hours. We had lots to catch up on and chat about. Newt has a child now, lots of writing and work to talk about, and of course talking about travels, life, and a bit of politics too.

It was a very wholesome afternoon and I’m so happy I got to see my old friends. It made me very happy to get to spend time with them!

On the morning of Monday, July 7th, my mom and I went to the Riverplex, the gym we like to go to. I’ve missed working out and it was nice to get a workout in this morning.

We got home and I didn’t have a ton of turn around time. I set out on a walk to one of my favorite restaurants in town, One World Cafe. I was meeting another high school friend, Jadison, and her fiancé for lunch! It was another wonderful time catching up with an old friend and meeting someone special in their life.

I played some cards with my mother and then after dinner I got picked up by my friend Dylan and we headed to a nearby park to play some volleyball with his friends!

We played for a many hours, pretty much all the way until the sun came down. Dylan’s friends were really fun and welcoming and they were also a mix of competitive levels of volleyball players. I really had a blast, it’s been a while since I’ve had friends to play volleyball with!

I spent the morning of Tuesday, July 8th writing up my first Facebook post that I have posted in a long time. I’ve obviously been posting daily and weekly, here, on Travelie. But I’ve pretty much put all other social medias to the wayside. But, I thought it was time to update that side of the world on what I’d been up to and share my new music!

Which of course, you can find, Life’s a Trip by Landlocked Beach Bum, on all streaming platforms!

It was really fun going through all my pictures form the past year and a half. It brought back a lot of nice memories and reminded me of all the amazing times I’ve had (and people I’ve met).

I played some guitar and trumpet Tuesday as well. And of course, finished off the day watching TV with my parents. I introduced them to one of my favorite shows, New Girl, which I think they enjoyed!

Wednesday, July 9th, another week in the books. In the morning, I went to the gym with my mother again. And when we got home, I continued going through my childhood room and clearing out old things.

I was quite the artist!

After dinner, we drove into Morton where my parents dropped me off at my friend Dylan’s house. They went off to my dad’s rehearsal for the show he’s in, but I was joining Dylan and his crew of friends for an evening of pickleball.

We, again, played until the sun went down and had a blast doing so! We pretty much played non-stop and switched partners periodically. I was sweating heaps, but had a good time doing so!

My parents picked me up on their way home, felt like I was at a high school practice, and we watched more TV when we got home.

It was a really really wholesome week! I got to spend time with my parents, my cousin, and some of my old friends! I also got to be very active, workout, and play sports with fun people.

It’s really nice to see people enjoying and appreciating my music as well. That makes me very happy, especially since I love it so much.

There isn’t too much planned for the next week, but I will be visiting my grandparents, which I’m looking forward to! But, I’m sure I’ll still have plenty of stories to share, so I’ll see you then!

– Elie